Category Archives: Turkey

Among the groups in Iraq which are fighting most effectively agains ISIS are Kurdish troops who belong to the Kurdish Workers Party. Turkey is allegedly an ally of the US and NATO so it is expected to join in the fight against ISIS. Heck, an ISIS suicide bomber last week murdered over twenty Turkish young people. So, what is the stand of President Recep Erdogan of Turkey? You must understand that up to this moment he has refused to aid those fighting ISIS?

1. Erdogan is now willing to allow US planes to use Turkish airports.

2. However, according to President Erdogan, the real enemy is NOT ISIS. The real enemy is any Kurdish led military group.

3. In other words, the US is cooperating with Kurdish forces while our ally, Turkey, is bombing Kurdish forces.

4. Recep Erdogan is a bully, a man consumed with a desire for power, and a man who refuses to work in a cooperative manner with Kurds who live in Turkey or any other place in this world.

Turkey borders on Syria and most Turkish people living on the border can daily listen to the sounds of war. Just about every day dozens of people walk through Turkey on there way to join ISIS or some other group in Syria while Turkish officials simply ignore this group. The government of President Recep Erdogan believes the most important issue in the Middle East is the desire of Kurds to have their own nation. At this point, Kurds in northern Iraq and parts of Syria have carved out a Kurdish state which is capable of handling ISIS. Erdogan would rather have ISIS on his border than a Kurdish state.

However, ISIS agents have decided to send suicide bombers into Turkey. Last week a suicide bomber murdered twenty young Turkish students and wounded dozens more. FINALLY, Erdogan is awakening to reality. ISIS is the most important threat to his nation. Turkish jets FINALLY went not action and bombed ISIS forces. Heck, he is now even going to allow US planes to fly from Turkey. Now,if Turkish officials at airports would arrest those young jihadists, then ISIS will suffer.

Another day,another murderous attack by one Muslim group upon another Muslim group. Some college students in Turkey were planning to go to the city of Kobani which is on the border of Syria and Turkey. Their plan was to rebuild parks and centers for children.They had no political agenda other than aiding fellow Muslims who are undergoing the horrible aspects of war.

A suicide bomber from ISIS blew himself up along with 30 other Muslims and wounded dozens more Muslims. I gather the bomber will be conversing with Allah about how he murdered Muslims. Somehow, I do not believe Allah will be thrilled with such news. Wouldn’t be wonderful if Muslims agreed not to murder one another–at least for a month!

There are some adults in the Education Ministry in Turkey who apparently believe they still reside in the 19th century when adults ruled an youngsters knew their place in life. New edicts from the Ministry of Education make it illegal for students to use the social media without permission of their teachers. They also cannot share photos. The adults insist they are simply doing what is best for youngsters. Oh, kids can go to jail if they slander a school employee, act in a way contrary to national values, sentimental vaqueros public morality.”

Now that the law has been laid down,I await the enforcement of these interesting ideas. I hate to tell adults in Turkey,but teens are light years beyond anything banning use of social media. Want to be who wins this fight?

There is one Middle Eastern nation which has a strong army that is equipped for war and whose government opposes terrorism. The name of this land is Turkey. However, President Recep Erdogan believes that Kurdish forces represent the greatest threat to peace in the region. He refuses to close his nation’s border with Syria to cut off new recruits for ISIS. In fact, Erdogan regards the ISIS nut cases as a good force for peace since they battle Kurds, along with a few other groups.

Erdogan hates President Assad and he will support any and all groups involved in the war in Syria. A problem is that no one today even knows who are the bad or good guys in Syria. Turkey is allegedly a member of NATO but it refuses to cooperate in the immediate task of ending terror groups in the region. KURDS for Erdogan will always be THE enemy.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan enjoys having conversations with the Great Leader of Russia, one Vladimir Putin. The other day he arranged to have Vladimir come over for a cup of coffee, and he waited, and he waited and he waited. Finally, Vladimir decided to head over to the hotel and meet with the man who so desires to run Turkey in the same manner as Vladimir runs Russia. Following was the conversation:

V: So, how goes it my friend?
E: I had an election and instead of gaining 95% of the vote, I wound up with 41%.
E: Yes, the opposition parties all together received 59%.
V: What kind of election was this? How can one only receive 41%? That has never occurred in Mother Russia.
E: So, how do you always win by such large margins?
V: Simple, decided BEFORE the election what you will receive and ensure that is the final vote?
E: But, what if the opposition receives votes?
V: Who ever heard of an opposition receiving votes that I had not planned?
E: You mean that you fix elections?
V: Of course, that is what we mean by a free election. All are able to vote. I decide the outcome.That is what we term a free election in Mother Russia.
E: Gee whiz, you are a Great Leader, I hope one day to be as wise and Great as you!

Given the madness that currently envelops the Middle East it is wonderful to receive some good news. The people of Turkey have turned their backs on authoritarian rule and hate by rejecting the attempt by President Recep Erdogan to establish a modified version of the authoritarian state. He wanted to receive 60% of the vote in order to end democracy in Turkey and wound up with 41%. The people of Turkey sent a message that Israelis might learn– a modern society does not need leaders who preach hate nor does it need leaders who use the media to destroy those ho oppose.

It is now clear that a coalition of women, gays, free speech advocates, and journalists combined to ensure that Turkey returned to the path of democracy and ended the Erdogan attempt to stifle free speech and restore religion to a prominent place in society. This was a victory for secular forces. How about a similar coalition in Israel to end the theocracy that increasingly exerts power??

Recep Erdogan began his journey to power in Turkey by heading the Justice and Development Party whose goal was to create a modern democratic society which was based on a modified version of the Islamic religion which would allow freedom to all people. Somewhere along the way, power assumed control over this man and he became a Muslim version of Vladimir Putin. Examine the record:

1. Both do not like journalists who speak freely, both have arrested dozens of members of the media.

2. Both do not like gays or lesbians.

3. Both preach the importance of religion in daily life, for Vladimir that means Christianity and for Recep that means Islam.

4. Both depict themselves as tough guys, Vladimir with claims of judo and Recep with claims of being a soccer star.

4. Both believe women are best at home producing babies.

The major difference is that Recep actually allowed a free election since he was convinced everyone loved him. Alas, the truth was that a majority said “NO” to his desire for dictatorial power.

The people of Turkey were confronted on Sunday with a challenge as to whether or not their country would continue on its slide into authoritarian rule from President Erdogan and his Justice And Development Party. Erdogan has gone mad with power and has imprisoned dozens of members of the media for the crime of “insulting the President.” Gee, if the USA had such a law, Fox News would cease to exist. Anyway, there was an election and Erdogan’s party only obtained 41% of the vote. He was expecting to receive over sixty percent. The opposition People’s Democratic Party wound up with 25% and Kurdish voters gave their party 12%.

This election is a beginning for the people of Turkey to avoid the drift toward one party government in their land and the end of a free media. Hopefully, Erdogan learns that the people of Turkey want to continue being a model of Muslim democracy.